In a formal written request issued last week, Wildwood attorney
Frank Corrado asked Interim Township Manager John Coughlin,
township attorney Anthony Bucco and fire association president Jeff
Poissant to submit a cassette of the hearing , which was held on
April 16. In the letter, the township was notified that Shoudy's
First Amendment rights may have been violated by the fire
department.

The letter also indicates that the ACLU intends to look into
whether or not due process violations occurred during the hearing,
which was held to determine whet her or not Shoudy should be
reinstated to her volunteer position. The hearing pa nel, made up
of firefighters and first aiders, refused to reinstate her. Shoudy
maintains, however, that she was not permitted to ask questions,
and was not told specifically what she did to bring dishonor to the
fire department.

The letter, dated May 1, also states precedent setting case laws
dealing with F rst Amendment rights and rights to due
process.

Corrado said Friday that he will review the matter, and will
then make a recommendation to the ACLU on whether or not to take
the case. "This raises some pretty serious First Amendment and due
process questions," he said. "If she is being penalized for
bringing an issue of public safety to the attention of the publ c,
those are some pretty serious concerns. I am very interested in
hearing that tape," he said.

"These may be constitutional issues involved here," he said. He
would not comment further on the matter, at this time.

Meanwhile, a three-member subcommittee of the Roxbury Township
Council has already met with heads of Fire and First Aid Co. No. 1
to begin discussing alleged safety concerns and ambulance response
times, and more meetings are planned.

At the council's May 1 meeting, in response to questions from
Shoudy, Mayor Sand y Urgo said many safety issues Shoudy raised, as
well as what Shoudy says are in creased ambulance response times
since her dismissal in March, are being address ed.

"We have formed a committee to look at the response times and
the safety issues that you brought up," Urgo said. Shoudy maintains
that she attempted to bring safety, procedural and equipment issues
to the attention of Fire Chief Lou Moore for several months. When
she came before the Township Council early in March with the
issues, she was shortly thereafter dismissed by the fire and first
aid association for violating the department's prescribed chain of
command.

Shoudy is appealing the dismissal to the interim township
manager, and has not ruled out taking the matter to court. With the
ACLU's involvement, the door has b een opened to take the matter to
federal court.

Urgo maintains, however, that the council has not ignored the
issues Shoudy raised. "The committee will be looking at this, but I
don't think increased response times are that unusual during the
day time hours," Urgo said.

Times Presented

Shoudy, who has maintained that ambulance response times have
increased for Co. No. 1, which services the Succasunna and
Ledgewood areas, since her dismissal, a gain presented the council
with times, dates and response times.

Shoudy said she monitored calls on Tuesday, May 1.

For example, a call went out for difficulty breathing at Willow
Walk at 7:02 a. m. At 7:15 a.m., a scramble call was issued,
meaning all three of Roxbury's firs t aid companies were called out
because Co. No. 1 was not responding. At 7:20 a. m., the dispatcher
asked if anyone was on their way. At 7:20, mutual aid was cal led
for, with Flanders being asked to help. At 7:23, a Co. No. 1
ambulance was p ut in-service, and the call for Flanders' help was
cancelled. An ambulance arriv ed on the scene, she said, at 7:26
a.m. The entire response time was 24 minutes.

At 4:41 p.m. that same day, a call was issued for an ambulance
to respond to Home Depot, where a 17 year-old was injured. At 4:47
p.m., Co. No. 1 reported it was standing by, waiting for EMT's to
arrive. At 4:54 p.m., the call was scrambled to all three
companies. At 4:57 p.m., Co. No. 2, based in Landing, was called a
nd was standing by for a crew. At 5 p.m., a Co. No. 2 ambulance was
placed in se rvice. Six minutes later, Co. No. 2 arrived on the
scene. The entire elapsed time, she said, was 25 minutes.

On Thursday, May 3, a 911 call was received for a semi-conscious
student with a neck injury at Roxbury High School. The call was
received at 10:19 a.m. At 10:31 a.m., a second request was issued,
and the call went to scramble. At 10:37 a.m. , an ambulance from
Co. No. 2 was placed in-service. At 10:44 a.m., the ambulan e from
Co. No. 2 arrived on the scene. The total elapsed time was 25
minutes.

Deputy Mayor Jim Rilee, Councilwoman Carol Scheneck and
Councilman Marshall Gate s comprise the subcommittee. Gates said
the first meeting was held with fire and first aid officials, and
said he expects that following the next meeting, a committee report
will be issued to the entire council.

Scheneck said, however, that the log of response times was not
provided by the f ire department during the first meeting. "I don't
know how that can be reviewed if we can't get this information and
I am a bit concerned about that," she sa d.

Scheneck, who has been the most outspoken member of the council
on the matter, h as said Shoudy acted in a dignified manner when
she appeared before the council.

"I don't think she said anything that was out of line. She
raised some serious issues with us and I am very concerned about
the safety issues. I asked the fire department for logs of
ambulance calls, and I was told they don't keep logs. Ho w can we
assure people that response times have not changed?" Scheneck said.
Scheneck has since asked the police department for the
logs.

Scheneck also said she would like to see the matter resolved
within the township . "I really wish we could resolve this
ourselves. We are inviting litigation. I am getting a lot of calls
from a lot of residents about this. I really want to examine those
response times, especially during the day," she said.

"I really hope the fire department and the rescue squad can
resolve this without going to court. That is not in the township's
best interests to incurlitigati on costs. Both sides deserve to be
heard and we should strive to resolve this," she said.

Safety Focus

Rilee said the first meeting was largely focused on the safety
issues that Shoudy brought to the council. Among them, he said, was
an allegation that unsafe tires were on the ambulances. "Our first
meeting was really strictly on the safety issues. We addressed some
of those issues, but not all of them," he said.

"One of those issues was about the tires, and we are waiting for
some response on that," he said. Gates said he expects that a more
comprehensive report will be issued after more meetings have been
held.

Councilman Fred Hall said he was also concerned, especially with
the issue of response times. Hall asked Police Chief Mark Noll if
the police department could p rovide response times, including a
comparison of Co. No. 1's responses from this time last
year.

In response, Noll said the police do keep a record of response
times, since all calls are dispatched through the police
department. He also said the department would be able to compare
response times with those of last year.

Noll said that the department has reviewed all calls received
for the Co. No. 1 first aid squad from Jan. 1 to April 30. The
number of calls totaled 260, and the average response time, he
said, was 13.11 minutes. That includes, however, day time, evening
and night time responses. Noll said the response times have not een
broken down by time of day, but said that could be done.

Interim Manager John Coughlin said, however, that in the case of
extreme injuri s or emergencies, the Mobile Intensive Care (MIC)
unit is available from the hos pital at all times of the
day.

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Online Poll

In recent weeks, Long Hill Township and Watchung Borough passed ordinances allowing their police departments to be able to apply for surplus equipment from the Department of Defense. Long Hill recently procured a Humvee to use in times of flooding, which Watchung states as the reason they are getting into the program. However, in cities around the country, police forces have used the program to obtain military gear, such as weapons and armor.
For more background, go to the link below
http://www.newjerseyhills.com/echoes-sentinel/news/watchung-police-department-hopes-to-receive-equipment-from-department-of/article_12ad002a-92b3-5449-a2cc-4b2cf0ce4339.html